Miami Open Tennis Tournament To Stay In Miami

MIAMI, FL — The Miami Open tennis tournament, which has outgrown its idyllic setting in Key Biscayne, has reached a deal with Miami-Dade County to keep the prestigious tournament in the Miami area but in a far less picturesque site. In confirming the deal on Wednesday, Miami-Dade spokesman Mike Hernandez said that it must still be approved by the county board of commissioners. The item appears on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting.

The new location will be built on land that is part of Hard Rock Stadium, which is also home to the Miami Dolphins. The first tournament at the new location will be played in 2019, meaning that tennis fans will be able to catch one last tournament at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne. The public park grounds there are surrounded by water and marked by sweeping views of downtown Miami from the main stadium.

"It's just not the same," said longtime tournament goer Luis Lao, who teaches tennis to a number of visitors who flock to the area each year to catch the two-week Miami Open. The tournament has been at its present location since 1986.

Lao first saw Jim Courier beat fellow American David Wheaton in the 1991 tournament, which was then called the Lipton International Players Championships. Lao has been a regular ever since.

Under the deal, tournament organizers must pay the county $1.3 million in money owed from tournaments held between 2009 and 2014. It must also agree to keep the popular tournament in Miami-Dade County for the next 20 years starting in 2019. Moreover, organizers will agree to hold all official tournament events, including parties and ceremonies, within county limits.

"The benefit of the Miami Open’s relocation to the Hard Rock Stadium site is that the tournament will remain within the county beyond the period during which the tournament would otherwise be held at Crandon Park," according to a memo prepared by the county. "The Miami Open will continue to benefit the county from the jobs, economic activity, sales tax, bed tax and other revenues generated by the tournament."

Tournament organizers have been looking to expand the event to be more competitive with the U.S. Open in New York, Indian Wells in California and other big name tennis tournaments. While the New York event is considered one of the sport's four grand slam events, Miami draws some 300,000 visitors along with national and international television coverage. It is also considered a far more intimate setting where fans have been able to get much closer to superstars like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal than elsewhere.

In a 2016 op-ed published in The New York Times, tennis superstar Serena Williams insisted that the rumored relocation of the event would have been a blow for everyone.

"As a tennis tournament, Miami has always achieved greatly despite the odds," Williams wrote at that time. "It doesn't take place in the biggest city; it's not the oldest nor is it the most traditional. But the tournament keeps moving forward, finding creative ways of improving each year.

"Leaving Miami would be a blow to our sport, to the city of Miami and to me," she said. "The tournament has, in many ways, set the standard for tennis events around the world in a unique time and place, and I hope we can all work together to improve this home court."

The termination agreement for the Key Biscayne location would not be effective until organizers finalize the agreement for the Hard Rock Stadium site.

"I don't know how they are going to do it but it loses some of the appeal that Miami has to offer which is it's right by the water. The players could just go across the street into the beach which many of them did," Lao explained.

"It remains to be seen how they turn the Dolphin Stadium area into something that's beautiful to watch. Right now I have to tell you, I don't enjoy going into Dolphin Stadium, but it's also because of the Dolphins," he added, pointing to the team's less than impressive season.

Photo by Paul Scicchitano